Anime...

Ah, nothing like good ol' fashioned anime. Now that I have a consistent internet connection and enough storage space, I have begun downloading anime again. While I am trying some new series, right now I am working on rebuilding my old collection. So far, I have exceded and surpassed my expectations.

I have managed to get back all the episodes for Gundam SEED, Wolf's Rain, and even managed to grab Gundam SEED Destiny which I have yet to see. On top of that, I have gotten the first two seasons of Bleach (which I have wanted to see for a long time) and all of the Project A-ko movies (Project A-ko being my first real whole anime).

It is nice to be watching anime again. I love the characters and the genres and so on. I realize now that I had been craving a good 'Mech story and Gundam seems to be filling that for the moment. Also, Gundam SEED is the best, so watching them anyhow is just enjoyable.

As far as the file server goes, while I got the machine to boot from an IDE drive and got the Windows system on it, I realized that I didn't really need the machine. I can just add drives to my current machine for more storage. I think that would be easier and best. I am going to sell the box with the RAM in it however, and see if I can get any kind of profit out of it.

Just wanted to give a quick report as to what is going on. If you want a very biased review of Gundam SEED, I give one in a blog from 2005 here.

Uh...

Interesting things have been happening on the server front. I have a 160gb hard-drive that I pulled from my standard Windows machine. It is a SATA drive and the little server box (an ASUS Terminator C3) has two SATA ports.

Too make a very long story short:

After much fiddling around, the box will not boot form the SATA and actually does not work correctly with the SATA in. My theory is that it just needs a BIOS flash and all of that will disappear. But, to be honest, I don't have a floppy disk laying around to do the flash. So, IDE it is.

I have 2 IDE drives in it right now, a 160gb Samsung, and an old 40gb Western Digital. As I type, I am attempting to repair an installation of Ubuntu server 7.04 that, no matter how many times I install it, will not boot up correctly. So, as the system diagnostic runs, I am also downloading Ubuntu server 6.10 to see if the older version will work for it better.

All in all, while the cost isn't huge, I don't have a lot of money to waste in general. This thing has taken more money and time than I had anticipated. Hopefully that trend stops soon.

I'll report back when I have more.

Ok...

Now it looks as though there is also a number of open source NAS server software available. Things such as FreeNAS and OpenFiler.

Interesting.

The question is how to put them on a disk or drive correctly. Also, I am still unsure if I can get the BIOS to see the SATA drive correctly at boot-up.

This project gets more and more interesting as I go.

And then...

...it hits you in the face. The answer...

Check out this site. Without any operating system installed, you can make any basic machine into a NAS (network accessible storage) system. In other words, all you need is drives in the machine and this product and it boots from CD or USB flash drive into a server. Amazing. I shall have to consider this seeing as there is no set-up at all.

If I get the USB version, I can remove the CD drive for more storage space. It just gets better and better.

Also, any Apple, Windows, or Linux computer can access the files. Exactly what I am looking for.

Excellent...

Well, my first day at the new job went very, very well. I really enjoyed it and ended up doing a lot better than I thought I would. I proved to myself, yet again, that my product knowledge on Apple and related products is pretty decent if not very good. The main thing that was nice was that I had fun. Something that hasn't happened at work in a long time.

After today, I know that I am fit for business sales. If I can weasel my way into that, I would be on some form of salary + commission which would make LIVING so very easy (I do use easy relatively and loosely).

Also, there is the issue of going for the dream and becoming an Apple technician there. I would really enjoy that. There is, however, the challenging question of money. That would probably be the only thing that would stop me from pursuing that. We shall see how all the chips fall.

On a separate note, all the employees at my old job chipped in and bought me a little bare-bones system to make a file-server with. I am working on it now with the only issue being that the thing does not want to boot from SATA drives. Looks like I will have to put it on the back-burner until I can acquire an IDE drive seeing as everything I have runs with SATA. I considered updating the BIOS thinking that might help the issue, but I don't have a 3.5" floppy drive in the computer(s) that I would download it from. It seems that the machine wants a 3.5" floppy disk to do any BIOS updating without an operating system.

So, anyhow, hopefully I can put that together soon. I really wanted to keep all of my stuff separate form my main system and gaming machine. Ah well, can't win 'em all, eh?

Get back to you soon.

Looking forward...

Just a quick little update. I am currently playing the new Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. The review for it should be up as soon as I play further through it. So far so good though. Really enjoying that game.

On a separate note, I am starting my new job on Monday. I am very excited seeing as I am going part-time and making about the same money if not more. To start, Monday's shift is from 9am-2pm. This is going to be so great. I will finally have time to get some things done like teach myself web-design.

Web-design is something that I have started very slowly. Once I know how to use some programs, I am possibly going to do some freelance. My first project will be my own full-blown web-page. I look forward to creating it. I think my training in Photoshop and all the other Adobe products will help make this go a little faster. Even if it is not successful, I have wanted to start my own business for some time now. What I want this business to be for is in-home consulting for computers, web-design, and graphic design. I look forward on starting down this road.

The other wonderful thing about my new job is that the company has a buy-back program for Apple computers and they give you cash or store credit for them. Hopefully, this will end up giving the employees some awesome deals on Apples and I can finally get that Mac Mini that I have had my eye on for some time.

Also, I have my sights set on being a technician for this store which would mean they would pay for me to get certified as an Apple technician. I could then work on Apple computers all day for customers and get them up and running. I am pretty sure that would be something I would really like to do.

Anyhow, I'll get back about C&C 3. I have some other reviews I want to post as well so stay tuned.

Lost...

I have just purchased a game for Xbox 360 called Lost Planet: Extreme Condition. Now, I had a chance to play before I bought it and was hooked. Since I have it now I can't stop playing it.

As far as the story goes, you are Wayne and have lost your memory of who you are. Mankind had attempted life on a new planet called E.D.N. 3 until they ran into the Akrid, a monstrous alien race that, once killed, give off precious thermal energy. This game's story really makes me think of Cobalt. Its all about a wasteland that is almost nothing but snow and you have to survive while you fight by grabbing thermal energy to stay warm. On top of that, you will be fighting Akrid, snow pirates, and good 'Mech pilots.

Single-player For this game is a lot of fun. There is a little story going on with the main character Wayne but it is not the focus. The game tries to focus on gameplay and graphics, which are amazing I might add.

Single-player definitely has an arcade feel to it. You play through a mission trying to beat the boss at the end of the mission. Then there is a little bit of story and then another mission. Each mission is different from the last so there is enough variety to keep you going.

The weapons are great, including the 6 or so different 'Mechs (called VS for Vital Suit) that you can pilot. If the VS is too damaged, you can jump out and tear one of its weapons off for your own personal use. The nice thing about this game and its VS's is that they are not something that is end all be all. First off, if you are smart or have a big enough weapon, you can rock them on foot. Second, they pull from your personal Thermal Energy supply to get their power, so if you run out, you are kicked out of the machine. Plus, all the energy weapons in the game are infinite ammo but run off of your T-Energy (Thermal Energy) and that goes for VS's too. So, while the VS is a nice thing to have, make sure that there is enough power to run one until you are out of harms way.

Multi-player is where this game shines. This is one of my favorite multi-player games.

Multi-player levels. They are all huge either horizontally, or vertically. Since some VS's can jump and have limited flight and every player can use their zip-lines, up is quite fine for this game. In-fact, all the levels have multiple heights. A lot of fun. When you press "X", like Batman, a grappling hook shoots out and can grapple to ledges and such and you are shot up to where you want to go.

VS's are great and add another dimension to online play. When you grab one, you can kill a lot of people. The person in the VS, however, becomes the focus of the map. VS's are not just thrown into the map, you have to find them. Some levels have quite a few VS's and there can be some excellent VS wars that go on.

All in all, if you have a 360, Lost Planet is something that you should own.

Here is a great video showing some single-player gameplay and multi-player.

Prime...

Just wanted to throw up the original Optimus Prime for a comparison.

More than meets the eye...

I cannot wait for this movie to come out. Optimus Prime looks amazing as you can see. The directors promised they stayed true to the characters. Plus, Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime and Ironhide in the cartoon is doing Optimus in the movie. It is going to be awesome.

Release date:
07/04/07

War...

I had heard about it. People were saying that it was going to be amazing. People sometimes are wrong; and I didn’t feel like listening. Then one day, I went into work, and I saw it being played by a child.

I walked up to the display and asked, “What are you playing?”

“Gears of War,” the child replied.

There it was, in all of its high-definition glory, Gears of War. It was the most amazing game I had ever seen. The graphics were amazing, the controls superb, the AI tactful. It was then I realized that I had to have the 360. This was the future.

While a review shouldn’t be started with such bias, I think it important to know my reaction when I first saw Gears of War.

Gears of War is a 3rd-person action shooter. While it had been done before, this game reinvented the idea of taking cover and popping out to shoot. The first time this was seen was in the N64 action game WinBack which was about 40% good and 60% bad. Gears gives this ability a faster pace, and allows you to move in cover. When a firefight breaks out, you feel as though you are in the middle of combat and that you have to be smart and keep your head down. It is a lot of fun and very strategic.

The single-player is awesome gives you a lot of great challenges. There are 3 difficulty settings to beat the game on one of which is called Insane. It is.

The story isn’t extremely strong but it is very present and decent enough to get into and keep you entertained. The characters in the story are all well-done and each has his own personality. The voice-acting is awesome and really brings the characters to life.

The problem in single-player is the length of the game. It took me about 3 days or about 10 hours of play to beat this game. It was fun all the way through, just a little short. I immediately felt that I needed a sequel, which the ending sort-of alluded to.

The multi-player is a lot of fun. Whether chainsawing your buddy in half or blindfiring a shotgun over cover, multi-player gives a lot of replay value to this game. There about 3 different play modes all of which are a lot of fun. The maps are diverse and can give you a new experience every time.

Gears of War is definitely going into my book as an innovator and a master-piece. It truly is the first next-generation game of our time. Pick it up, you won’t regret it.